Madonna: Plantation Mistress or Soul Sister?

bell hooks
From 'Black Looks: Race and Representation'
Subversion is contextual, historical, and above all social !o matter ho" excitin# the $destabiti%in#$ potential o& texts,
bodil' or other"ise, "hether those texts are subversive or recuperative or both or neither cannot be determined b'
abstraction &rom actual social practice
((Susan Bordo
)hite "omen $stars$ like Madonna, Sandra Bernhard, and man' others publicl' name their interest in, and appropriation
o&, black culture as 'et another si#n o& their radical chic *ntimac' "ith that $nast'$ blackness #ood "hite #irls sta' a"a'
&rom is "hat the' seek +o "hite and other nonblack consumers, this #ives them a special &lavor, an added spice ,&ter all
it is a ver' recent historical phenomenon &or an' "hite #irl to be able to #et some milea#e out o& &launtin# her &ascination
and env' o& blackness +he thin# about env' is that it is al"a's read' to destro', erase, take over, and consume the desired
ob-ect +hat's exactl' "hat Madonna attempts to do "hen she appropriates and commodi&ies aspects o& black culture
!eedless to sa' this kind o& &ascination is a threat *t endan#ers Perhaps that is "h' so man' o& the #ro"n black "omen *
spoke "ith about Madonna had no interest in her as a cultural icon and said thin#s like, $+he bitch can't even sin#$ *t "as
onl' amon# 'oun# black &emales that * could &ind die(hard Madonna &ans +hou#h * o&ten admire and, 'es at times, even
env' Madonna because she has created a cultural space "here she can invent and reinvent hersel& and receive public
a&&irmation and material re"ard, * do not consider m'sel& a Madonna &an
.nce * read an intervie" "ith Madonna "here she talked about her env' o& black culture, "here she stated that she "anted
to be black as a child *t is a si#n o& "hite privile#e to be able to $see$ blackness and black culture &rom a standpoint "here
onl' the rich culture o& opposition black people have created in resistance marks and de&ines us Such a perspective
enables one to i#nore "hite supremacist domination and the hurt it in&licts via oppression, exploitation, and ever'da'
"ounds and pains )hite &olks "ho do not see black pain never reall' understand the complexit' o& black pleasure ,nd it
is no "onder then that "hen the' attempt to imitate the -o' in livin# "hich the' see as the $essence$ o& soul and blackness,
their cultural productions ma' have an air o& sham and &alseness that ma' titillate and even move "hite audiences 'et
leave man' black &olks cold !eedless to sa', i& Madonna had to depend on masses o& black "omen to maintain her status
as cultural icon she "ould have been dethroned some time a#o Man' o& the black "omen * spoke "ith expressed intense
dis#ust and hatred o& Madonna Most did not respond to m' cautious attempts to su##est that underl'in# those ne#ative
&eelin#s mi#ht lurk &eelin#s o& env', and dare * sa' it, desire !o black "oman * talked to declared that she "anted to $be
Madonna$
/et "e have onl' to look at the number o& black "omen entertainers0stars 1+ina +urner, ,retha Franklin, 2onna Summer,
3anessa )illiams, /o(/o, etc4 "ho #ain #reater crossover reco#nition "hen the' demonstrate that, like Madonna, the'
too, have a health' dose o& $blonde ambition$ 5learl' their careers have been in&luenced b' Madonna's choices and
strate#ies For masses o& black "omen, the political realit' that underlies Madonna's and our reco#nition that this is a
societ' "here $blondes$ not onl' $have more &un$ but "here the' are more likel' to succeed in an' endeavor is "hite
supremac' and racism )e cannot see Madonna's chan#e in hair color as bein# merel' a 6uestion o& aesthetic choice *
a#ree "ith 7ulie Burchill in her critical "ork 8irls on Film, "hen she reminds us: $)hat does it sa' about racial purit'
that the best blondes have all been brunettes 19arlo", Monroe, Bardot4? * think it sa's that "e are not as "hite as "e
think * think it sa's that Pure is a Bore$ * also kno" that it is the expressed desire o& the nonblonde .ther &or those
characteristics that are seen as the 6uintessential markers o& racial aesthetic superiorit' that perpetuate and uphold "hite
supremac' *n this sense Madonna has much in common "ith the masses o& black "omen "ho su&&er &rom internali%ed
racism and are &orever terrori%ed b' a standard o& beaut' the' &eel the' can never trul' embod'
Like man' black "omen "ho have stood outside the culture's &ascination "ith the blonde beaut' and "ho have onl' been
able to reach it throu#h imitation and arti&ice, Madonna o&ten recalls that she "as a "orkin#(class "hite #irl "ho sa"
hersel& as u#l', as outside the mainstream beaut' standard ,nd indeed "hat some o& us like about her is the "a' she
deconstructs the m'th o& $natural$ "hite #irl beaut' b' exposin# the extent to "hich it can be and is usuall' arti&iciall'
constructed and maintained She mocks the conventional racist(de&ined beaut' ideal even as she ri#orousl' strives to
embod' it 8iven her obsession "ith exposin# the realit' that the ideal &emale beaut' in this societ' can be attained b'
arti&ice and social construction, it should come as no surprise that man' o& her &ans are #a' men, and that the ma-orit' o&
non"hite men, particularl' black men, are amon# that #roup 7ennie Livin#ston's &ilm Paris *s Burnin# su##ests that man'
black #a' men, especiall' 6ueens0divas, are as e6uall' driven as Madonna b' $blonde ambition$ Madonna never lets her
audience &or#et that "hatever $look$ she ac6uires is attained b' hard "ork(($it ain't natural$ ,nd as Burchill comments in
her chapter $9omosexual 8irls$: * have a &riend "ho drives a cab and looks like a Marlboro Man but at ni#ht is the second
best 7ean 9arlo" * have ever seen 9e summed up the kind o& &ilm star he adores, brutall' and brilliantl', "hen he said, $*
like actresses "ho look as i& the''ve spent hours puttin# themselves to#ether((and even then the' don't look ri#ht$
5ertainl' no one, not even die(hard Madonna &ans, ever insists that her beaut' is not attained b' skill&ul arti&ice ,nd
indeed, a ma-or point o& the documentar' &ilm +ruth or 2are: *n Bed )ith Madonna "as to demonstrate the amount o&
"ork that #oes into the construction o& her ima#e /et "hen the chips are do"n, the ima#e Madonna most exploits is that
o& the 6uintessential $"hite #irl$ +o maintain that ima#e she must al"a's position hersel& as an outsider in relation to
black culture *t is that position o& outsider that enables her to coloni%e and appropriate black experience &or her o"n
opportunistic ends even as she attempts to mask her acts o& racist a##ression as a&&irmation ,nd no other #roup sees that
as clearl' as black &emales in this societ' For "e have al"a's kno"n that the sociall' constructed ima#e o& innocent "hite
"omanhood relies on the continued production o& the racist0sexist sexual m'th that black "omen are not innocent and
never can be Since "e are coded al"a's as $&allen$ "omen in the racist cultural icono#raph' "e can never, as can
Madonna, publicl' $"ork$ the ima#e o& ourselves as innocent &emale darin# to be bad Mainstream culture al"a's reads
the black &emale bod' as si#n o& sexual experience *n part, man' black "omen "ho are dis#usted b' Madonna's &launtin#
o& sexual experience are enra#ed because the ver' ima#e o& sexual a#enc' that she is able to pro-ect and a&&irm "ith
material #ain has been the stick this societ' has used to -usti&' its continued beatin# and assault on the black &emale bod'
+he vast ma-orit' o& black "omen in the :nited States, more concerned "ith pro-ectin# ima#es o& respectabilit' than "ith
the idea o& &emale sexual a#enc' and trans#ression, do not o&ten &eel "e have the $&reedom$ to act in rebellious "a's in
re#ards to sexualit' "ithout bein# punished )e have onl' to contrast the li&e stor' o& +ina +umer "ith that o& Madonna to
see the di&&erent connotations $"ild$ sexual a#enc' has "hen it is asserted b' a black &emale Bein# represented publicl' as
an active sexual bein# has onl' recentl' enabled +urner to #ain control over her li&e and career For 'ears the public ima#e
o& a##ressive sexual a#enc' +urner pro-ected belied the de#ree to "hich she "as sexuall' abused and exploited privatel'
She "as also materiall' exploited Madonna's career could not be all that it is i& there "ere no +ina +urner and 'et, unlike
her cohort Sandra Bernhard, Madonna never articulates the cultural debt she o"es black &emales
*n her most recent appropriations o& blackness, Madonna almost al"a's imitates phallic black masculinit' ,lthou#h *
read man' articles "hich talked about her appropriatin# male codes, no critic seems to have noticed her emphasis on black
male experience *n his Pla'bo' pro&ile, $Pla'#irl o& the )estern )orld,$ Michael ;ell' describes Madonna's crotch
#rabbin# as $an elo6uent visual put(do"n o& male phallic pride$ 9e points out that she "orked "ith choreo#rapher 3ince
Paterson to per&ect the #esture <ven thou#h ;ell' tells readers that Madonna "as consciousl' imitatin# Michael 7ackson,
he does not contextuali%e his interpretation o& the #esture to include this act o& appropriation &rom black male culture ,nd
in that speci&ic context the #roin #rabbin# #esture is an assertion o& pride and phallic domination that usuall' takes place
in an all(male context Madonna's imitation o& this #esture could -ust as easil' be read as an expression o& env'
+hrou#hout =man'> o& her autobio#raphical intervie"s runs a thread o& expressed desire to possess the po"er she perceives
men have Madonna ma' hate the phallus, but she lon#s to possess its po"er She is al"a's &irst and &oremost in
competition "ith men to see "ho has the bi##est penis She lon#s to assert phallic po"er, and like ever' other #roup in
this "hite supremacist societ', she clearl' sees black men as embod'in# a 6ualit' o& maleness that eludes "hite men
9ence the' are o&ten the #roup o& men she most seeks to imitate, tauntin# "hite males "ith her o"n version o&$black
masculinit'$ )hen it comes to entertainment rivals, Madonna clearl' perceives black male stars like Prince and Michael
7ackson to be the standard a#ainst "hich she must measure hersel& and that she ultimatel' hopes to transcend
Fascinated 'et envious o& black st'le, Madonna appropriates black culture in "a's that mock and undermine, makin# her
presentation one that upsta#es +his is most evident in the video $Like a Pra'er$ +hou#h * read numerous articles that
discussed public outra#e at this video, none &ocused on the issue o& race !o article called attention to the &act that
Madonna &launts her sexual a#enc' b' su##estin# that she is breakin# the ties that bind her as a "hite #irl to "hite
patriarch', and establishin# ties "ith black men She, ho"ever, and not black men, does the choosin# +he messa#e is
directed at "hite men *t su##ests that the' onl' labeled black men rapists &or &ear that "hite #irls "ould choose black
partners over them 5ultural critics commentin# on the video did not seem at all interested in explorin# the reasons
Madonna chooses a black cultural backdrop &or this ?video, ie, black church and reli#ious experience 5learl', it "as this
backdrop that added to the video's controvers'
*n her commentar' in the )ashin#ton Post, $Madonna: /uppie 8oddess,$ Brooke Masters "rites: $Most descriptions o&
the controversial video &ocus on its 5atholic ima#er': Madonna kisses a black saint, and develops 5hrist(like markin#s on
her hands 9o"ever, the video is also a &eminist &air' tale Sleepin# Beaut' and Sno" )hite "aited &or their princes to
come alon#, Madonna &inds her o"n man and "akes him up$ !otice that this "riter completel' overlooks the issue o&
race and #ender +hat Madonna's chosen prince "as a black man is in part "hat made the representation potentiall'
shockin# and provocative to a "hite supremacist audience /et her attempt to exploit and trans#ress traditional racial
taboos "as rarel' commented on *nstead critics concentrated on "hether or not she "as violatin# taboos re#ardin#
reli#ion and representation
*n the :nited States, 5atholicism is most o&ten seen as a reli#ion that has =&e"> or no black &ollo"ers and Madonna's video
certainl' perpetuates this stereot'pe "ith its -uxtaposition o& ima#es o& black non5atholic representations "ith the ima#e
o& the black saint 8iven the importance o& reli#ious experience and liberation theolo#' in black li&e, Madonna's use o& this
ima#er' seemed particularl' o&&ensive For she made black characters act in complicit' "ith her as she a##ressivel'
&launted her criti6ue o& 5atholic manners, her attack on or#ani%ed reli#ion /et, no black voices that * kno" o& came
&or"ard in print callin# attention to the &act that the realm o& the sacred that is mocked in this &ilm is black reli#ious
experience, or that this appropriative $use$ o& that experience "as o&&ensive to man' black &olk Lookin# at the video "ith
a #roup o& students in m' class on the politics o& sexualit' "here "e criticall' anal'%e the "a' race and representations o&
blackness are used to sell products, "e discussed the "a' in "hich black people in the video are caricatures re&lectin#
stereot'pes +he' appear #rotes6ue +he onl' role black &emales have in this video is to catch 1ie, rescue4 the $an#elic$
Madonna "hen she is $&allin#$ +his is -ust a contemporar' castin# o& the black &emale as Mamm' Made to serve as
supportive backdrop &or Madonna's drama, black characters in $Like a Pra'er$ remind one o& those earl' 9oll'"ood
depictions o& sin#in# black slaves in the #reat plantation movies or those Shirle' +emple &ilms "here Bo-an#les "as
trotted out to dance "ith Miss Shirle' and spice up her act ,udiences "ere not supposed to be enamored o& Bo-an#les,
the' "ere supposed to see -ust "hat a special little old "hite #irl Shirle' reall' "as *n her o"n "a' Madonna is a modern
da' Shirle' +emple 5ertainl' her expressed a&&init' "ith black culture enhances her value
<a#er to see the documentar' +ruth ar 2are because it promised to &ocus on Madonna's trans#ressive sexual persona,
"hich * &ind interestin#, * "as an#ered b' her visual representations o& her domination over not "hite men 1certainl' not
over )arren Beatt' or ,lek ;eshishian4, but people o& color and "hite "orkin#(class "omen * "as too an#ered b' this to
appreciate other aspects o& the &ilm * mi#ht have en-o'ed *n +ruth or 2are Madonna clearl' revealed that she can onl'
think o& exertin# po"er alon# ver' traditional, "hite supremacist, capitalistic, patriarchal lines +hat she made people "ho
"ere dependent on her &or their immediate livelihood submit to her "ill "as neither charmin# nor seductive to me or the
other black &olks that * spoke "ith "ho sa" the &ilm )e thou#ht it tra#icall' ironic that Madonna "ould choose as her
dance partner a black male "ith d'ed blonde hair Perhaps had he appeared less like a "hite(identi&ied black male
consumed b' $blonde ambition$ he mi#ht have upsta#ed her *nstead he "as positioned as a mirror, into "hich Madonna
and her audience could look and see onl' a re&lection o& hersel& and the "orship o& $"hiteness$ she embodies(( that "hite
supremacist culture "ants ever'one to embod' Madonna used her po"er to ensure that he and the other non"hite "omen
and men "ho "orked &or her, as "ell as some o& the "hite subordinates, "ould all serve as the backdrop to her "hite(#irl(
makes(#ood(drama 7okin# about the &ilm "ith other black &olks, "e commented that Madonna must have searched lon#
and hard to &ind a black &emale that "as not a #ood dancer, one "ho "ould not de&lect attention a"a' &rom her ,nd it is
tellin# that "hen the &ilm directl' re&lects somethin# other than a positive ima#e o& Madonna, the camera hi#hli#hts the
ra#e this black &emale dancer "as suppressin# *t sur&aces "hen the $subordinates$ have time o&& and are $relaxin#$
,s "ith most Madonna videos, "hen critics talk about this &ilm the' tend to i#nore race /et no vie"er can look at this
&ilm and not think about race and representation "ithout en#a#in# in &orms o& denial ,&ter choosin# a cast o& characters
&rom mar#inali%ed #roups((non"hite &olks, heterosexual and #a', and #a' "hite &olks((Madonna publicl' describes them
as $emotional cripples$ ,nd o& course in the context o& the &ilm this description seems borne out b' the "a' the' allo" her
to dominate, exploit, and humiliate them +hose Madonna &ans "ho are determined to see her as politicall' pro#ressive
mi#ht ask themselves "h' it is she completel' endorses those racist0sexist0classist stereot'pes that almost al"a's attempt
to portra' mar#inali%ed #roups as $de&ective$ Let's &ace it, b' doin# this, Madonna is not breakin# "ith an' "hite
supremacist, patriarchal status 6uo@ she is endorsin# and perpetuatin# it
Some o& us do not &ind it hip or cute &or Madonna to bra# that she has a $&ascistic side,$ a side "ell documented in the
&ilm )ell, "e did not see an' o& her cute little &ascism in action "hen it "as )arren Beatt' callin# her out in the &ilm
!o, there the ima#e o& Madonna "as the little "oman "ho #rins and bears it !o, her $somebod''s #ot to be in char#e
side,$ as she names it, "as most expressed in her interaction "ith those representatives &rom mar#inali%ed #roups "ho are
most o&ten victimi%ed b' the po"er&ul )h' is it there is little or no discussion o& Madonna as racist or sexist in her
relation to other "omen? )ould audiences be charmed b' some rich "hite male entertainer tellin# us he must $pla'
&ather$ and oversee the actions o& the less po"er&ul, especiall' "omen and men o& color? So "h' did so man' people &ind
it cute "hen Madonna asserted that she dominates the interracial casts o& #a' and heterosexual &olks in her &ilm because
the' are crippled and she $like=s> to pla' mother$ !o, this "as not a displa' o& &eminist po"er, this "as the same old
phallic nonsense "ith "hite puss' at the center ,nd man' o& us "atchin# "ere not simpl' unmoved(("e "ere outra#ed
Perhaps it is a si#n o& a collective &eelin# o& po"erlessness that man' black, non"hite, and "hite vie"ers o& this &ilm "ho
"ere disturbed b' the displa' o& racism, sexism, and heterosexism 1'es, it's possible to hire #a' people, support ,*2S
pro-ects, and still be biased in the direction o& phallic patriarchal heterosexualit'4 in +ruth or 2are have said so little
Sometimes it is di&&icult to &ind "ords to make a criti6ue "hen "e &ind ourselves attracted b' some aspect o& a per&ormer's
act and disturbed b' others, or "hen a per&ormer sho"s more interest in promotin# pro#ressive social causes than is
customar' )e ma' see that per&ormer as above criti6ue .r "e ma' &eel our criti6ue "ill in no "a' intervene on the
"orship o& them as a cultural icon +o sa' nothin#, ho"ever, is to be complicit "ith the ver' &orces o& domination that
make $blonde ambition$ necessar' to Madonna's success +ra#icall', all that is trans#ressive and potentiall' empo"erin#
to &eminist "omen and men about Madonna's "ork ma' be undermined b' all that it contains that is reactionar' and in no
"a' unconventional or ne" *t is o&ten the conservative elements in her "ork conver#in# "ith the status 6uo that have the
most po"er&ul impact For example: 8iven the rampant homophobia in this societ' and the concomitant heterosexist
vo'euristic obsession "ith #a' li&e(st'les, to "hat extent does Madonna pro#ressivel' seek to challen#e this i& she insists
on primaril' representin# #a's as in some "a' emotionall' handicapped or de&ective? .r "hen Madonna responds to the
criti6ue that she exploits #a' men b' cavalierl' statin#: $)hat does exploitation mean? *n a revolution, some people
have to #et hurt +o #et people to chan#e, 'ou have to turn the table over Some dishes #et broken$ * can onl' sa' this
doesn't sound like liberation to me Perhaps "hen Madonna explores those memories o& her "hite "orkin#(class childhood
in a troubled &amil' in a "a' that enables her to understand intimatel' the politics o& exploitation, domination, and
submission, she "ill have a deeper connection "ith oppositional black culture *& and "hen this radical critical sel&(
interro#ation takes place, she "ill have the po"er to create ne" and di&&erent cultural productions, "ork that "ill be trul'
trans#ressive((acts o& resistance that trans&orm rather than simpl' seduce